3rd Period

Formal Lab Report (Part I of Forces Lab)

Lab as performed on 11/06/2017

In this lab, a laboratory experiment has been done to test the forces on a body–a wooden cart–
and its effects the wooden cart when the cart is pulled across a lab table at a constant speed. The forces
on the wooden cart include gravitational force, normal force, applied force, and frictional force, which
influence the motion of the wooden cart throughout the experiment.

Gravitational force is the force caused by acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s2), with the force
being the product of the body’s mass (in kilograms) and the acceleration due to gravity. Gravitational
force always originates from the center of a mass and is always pointed downward towards the center
of the Earth.

Normal force is the force perpendicular to a surface that is exerted by the surface unto the
body. It is a perfect example of Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion, which states that for every action force,
there is an equal and opposite reaction force. Normal force generally acts as the reaction force for
action forces such as gravity. In the case of this lab, there is no acceleration upward or downward,
meaning that the normal force is equal to the gravitational force exerted on it.

Applied force is a force that is applied by a person or another object on a body. In this lab, a
person pulls the wooden cart with a spring scale, which is the applied force exerted on the wooden cart.
This applied force will be measured with the spring scale.

Lastly, frictional force is any force that opposes the motion of an object through the contact
between the object and another surface; it is the product of the coefficient of friction and normal force.
In this lab, there is frictional force between the wooden cart and the lab table. The frictional force will
be equal to the applied force when the acceleration is zero, meaning that the forces are balanced and
equal.

When all the forces are balanced, we set the forces on the dimension of motion (parallel to the
lab table) equal to each other (Fa and fk). Knowing that the applied force is equal to the product of the
coefficient of friction and normal force, one can solve for the coefficient of friction using data and linear
regression.

Question:
Using the wooden cart and masses, graphically determine the coefficient of kinetic friction
between the wooden cart and the table

Materials:
Wooden cart, masses, triple-beam balance, lab table, spring scales

Procedure:
1. Measure the mass of the wooden cart using the triple-beam balance
2. Attach the spring scale to the wooden cart
3. Place a mass of 100 grams in the wooden cart
3rd Period

4. Use the spring scale to pull the wooden cart across the table at a constant speed, nothing
the Newtons needed to pull the cart using the measurement on the spring scale
5. Record the mass and the newtons need to pull the cart
6. Repeat with increasing intervals of 100 grams until one reaches 500 grams
7. End by pulling just the cart, performing steps 4 and 5 using the mass of the wooden cart that
was measured using the triple-beam balance

Data:
FN Mass (kg) FA (N)
.1597box 1.0
.2597 1.5
fs .3597 2.0
FA
.4597 2.5
Fg .5597 3.0
.6597 3.5

4
Analysis: 3
2
FA

FN (N) FA (N) 1
∑𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎, 𝐹𝑎 − 𝑓𝜅 = 𝑚𝑎 1.57box 1.0 0
2.55 1.5 0 2 4 6 8
𝑎 = 0 ∴ 𝐹𝑎 = 𝑓𝜅
3.53 2.0 FN (mg)
𝑓𝑘 = 𝜇𝑘 𝐹𝑁 4.51 2.5
5.49 3.0
𝑓𝑘 = 𝜇𝑘 𝑚𝑔 → 𝑦 = 𝑚𝑥 + 𝑏
6.47 3.5

After a linear regression…

𝝁𝒌 = 𝟎. 𝟓𝟏

Conclusion:
The graphically determined coefficient of kinetic friction between the wooden cart and the table
is 0.51, which is the slope of the graph of gravitational force and applied force. However, some of the
data may be incorrect due to errors such as a mismeasurement of the applied force, measured by the
spring scale; the misapplication of applied force such that the cart wouldn’t move at an exact constant
speed; and the calculator formed a y-intercept out of the calculations, which changed the slope.